Chelsea’s Carabao Cup tie vs Brighton is crucial and Mauricio Pochettino is getting panicky, says Paul Merson | Football News

Paul Merson says Mauricio Pochettino looks like he is beginning to panic and Chelsea’s Carabao Cup tie at home to Brighton on Wednesday is crucial.

The Blues have won just twice this season, while they have not scored in their last three matches and lost at home to Aston Villa on Sunday.

Ahead of their game against the Seagulls, Merson says he is worried for Chelsea, while he also looks at whether Arsenal should target Ivan Toney and Liverpool’s clash with Tottenham.

‘Chelsea’s next 10 games are vital – but where is the win coming from?’

Chelsea need the Carabao Cup more than any other team. Wednesday night’s cup tie with Brighton means more to Chelsea than any of the other teams left in the tournament.

I said Tottenham missed a trick by playing a weakened team in round two and going out. But you look at them now and the way they have started, they need to get in the Champions League so I can understand why they rested players now.

But Chelsea can’t win a game for toffee. They haven’t had a hard start either, a lot of clubs would have bitten your hand off for those fixtures. Newcastle started the season against Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City and Brighton but have four more points than Chelsea.

The last thing Chelsea need to do now is go out to Brighton (in what is one of six Carabao Cup ties forming part of Wednesday’s Super 6 offering on Sky Bet!) in the cup.

If you look at Chelsea’s fixtures, you worry for them. The next 10 games are so vital for their season that you can’t catch your breath. It’s a run where you actually don’t know when they’re going to win a football match.

So Wednesday is a huge football match. If they get beat here, they will have won three games in their last 24. One was against Luton and you don’t know when they will win a game. One was against AFC Wimbledon in the cup and they got over the line in that one. And the other one was against Bournemouth in the league last season but only after Bournemouth got enough points to stay up.

Even Mauricio Pochettino is coming out and is now saying: ‘It’s a process, you have to be patient’. When a manager comes out and says that, it shows they are starting to get a bit panicky. Even he doesn’t think it was meant to be like this.

If he is saying that already, it’s a worry. I hope he gets that patience and time, they have injuries too. But I’m worried.

Arsenal may need Toney in January

I’ve always said it from day one – Eddie Nketiah is not going to win you the Premier League.

You need a proper centre forward. I’m not blaming Nketiah because they drew 2-2 with Tottenham but with 32 games to go and all the Champions League games they have to play, I don’t think he takes them to the next level. I don’t even think Gabriel Jesus takes them to the next level.

I was so confident that Arsenal would win on Sunday but when I saw the teams, I was majorly worried. Jesus on the wing, Nketiah up front, Fabio Vieira – I don’t think he’s good enough. Then Declan Rice comes off and Jorginho comes on.

It wasn’t Arsenal’s strongest team but when you think about the Champions League and all the games they have to play, it looked a bit weak on Sunday, didn’t it?

It’s alright sitting there and thinking ‘they need a centre forward’ – but who is there?

Only Ivan Toney is available for them in January – there aren’t many centre forwards around in the world. They’re a dying breed.

I heard Michael Owen chatting the other day. Years ago you had him, Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham and Robbie Fowler getting 20 to 30 goals a season and they didn’t get a million England caps. Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand too. Now you get to 20 goals in the Premier League and you play for England.

Toney is a good player – he can hold the ball up, he’s good in the air. Arsenal might have to go for him. But there are not a million centre forwards around.

Now, if Arsenal lose against Manchester City on October 8, they will be out of the title race. They would be seven points behind.

A lot of people say: ‘But there are still so many games left’. But Arsenal wouldn’t catch Man City if there were 600 games left if City had a seven-point head start. You just can’t make that up, as from then Arsenal would only have one game against City and it would be away.

That game at the Emirates is a huge match, it’s make or break already.

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Liverpool beating Spurs would be massive

If Liverpool come away from Tottenham with a win next week then it’s a massive result. I’m not saying they will lose the game, but to go to Tottenham now, you’re up against a very good team with good players.

The first 35 minutes against Arsenal, I thought Spurs were pretty disappointing. I thought it was no different to watching Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho’s Spurs. If Gabriel Jesus scores for 2-0 then it’s a completely different story. But he misses an absolute sitter.

What I liked about Tottenham after that is they kept on playing the way they like playing and I was so impressed with them.

I thought Arsenal would win easily. But for Spurs to come from 1-0 down and 2-1 down – normally they would lie down and get beat. Credit where credit is due. I thought they were outstanding and I now see them being around the top four.

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Destiny Udogie was outstanding. For him to get booked so early on in the game then go up against Bukayo Saka – one of the best wingers in the world – is some going.

But credit goes to Ange Postecoglou. He said to him: ‘I have faith in you, you’re a full-back, it’s your job to defend one-vs-ones, stay on the pitch’. Normally, against a player like Saka, a manager would take him off as you wouldn’t want a red card. But fair play to the manager and Udogie did his job really well.

Liverpool, meanwhile, still have got so much work to do. Manchester City are destroying the league at the moment, they’re putting so much pressure on everybody. It’s phenomenal what they’re doing.

Liverpool are doing well at the moment because you just have to stick in there. You have to take it a game at a time and you don’t want to be giving them a head start.

The biggest advantage Liverpool have is they can draw to Tottenham and Brighton over the next two weeks because they still have to play Man City twice – and they can beat Man City twice.